Early June, 2009 - We left South Haven, Michigan and drove a little
further up the coast to Saugatuck, another utterly charming town along
the the state's southern Lake Michigan coast. At the far end of town we
discovered the hand-cranked Saugatuck Chain Ferry which takes
passengers across the river. As we stood at the little ferry dock
marveling at this contraption, a mom, dad and daughter on bikes
appeared on the other side of the river. They started waving their hands
excitedly, the little girl especially. Suddenly the two young boys on the
chain ferry leaped into action.
One boy
managed the
lines while the
other manned
the hand-cranking station. He cranked the lever round and round, and
slowly the ferry began to move along its chain. The current is quite
strong in the middle of the river, and it made sense to put this hand-
powered ferry on a chain system so it couldn't drift downstream faster
than it could be cranked across. The family on the other side happily
loaded their bikes onto the ferry and the boys switched roles for the
return trip.
The town has a lovely main street
for walking and window shopping.
We found many pretty flower
displays along the storefronts as we
walked. We wished we had our
bikes so we could venture a little
further from the center of town.
However, being bikeless, at least
this pretty flower basket bike was
nice to photograph.
On the far side of the river, where the family of bicyclists had flagged down the ferry,
Mount Baldhead has 282 stairs leading to the top. Lots of people seem to climb this
staircase as a workout -- at different paces. Mark pumped his way to the top at a steady
trot, while I gave myself a few breathers near the end.
After admiring the view at the top,
we ran down the sand path on
the other side to Oval Beach for a
quick peak at the lake. Then we
got our heart rates going again
as we staggered up the sand
path to the top. Sweaty and
grinning, I started down the stairs
to the car. I hadn't gone 12 stairs when I met a 79-year-old woman
coming up. She had stopped to catch her breath, and as she wiped her
brow she told me she climbs this stairway once a year.
We got back in the car and started making our way north again. On a
small road that wound through the backs of some pretty neighborhoods
we saw a commotion ahead of us in someone's front yard. Kids and
bikes were everywhere and a small pen was set up in the yard. We got
out of the car to see what the fuss was about and discovered a family
was selling a litter of six adorable Golden Retriever pups. Hardly any
were in the pen; all were in the arms of the neighborhood kids. The
momma retriever stood to one side looking very proud and rather
exhausted. Mark finally got a chance to hold a pup, and he was in
heaven. If we weren't living a traveling lifestyle, he would have been the
proud owner of a new puppy that day.
A little further up the road we stopped in Grand Haven, another small town that has grown up
along the shores of Lake Michigan. An ice cream cone and a stroll around town, and we
were happy tourists.
We returned to Detroit for a week or so to catch
up with family again. Then we got the itch to
see more of Michigan and set out for the
northern reaches of the state. Our first stop was
Higgins Lake, Mark's family's old stomping
grounds when they camped with a myriad of
cousins and aunts and uncles in large family
caravans years ago. The little Shasta sister-
trailer we had seen in Elkhart had hosted many
a family campfire at Higgins Lake.
Mark remembered the rangers at this campground as being quite cranky, and sure enough
they wouldn't allow us to drive through the campground to take a look around unless we paid
for a night's stay. As teens, Mark and his friends had referred to the ranger there as "Ranger
Danger," and had done dastardly things like played very loud Led Zeppelin from their
oversized car stereo systems, blasting everyone out of the campground. Now, of course,
whenever rowdy teens disturb our serene camping spots, I have to remind him that it is simply payback time.
But our mission of the moment was to get into the Higgins Lake
campground just long enough to get a good nostalgic look around.
Mark drove past the campground entrance to the old ice cream stand
that he and his cousins had walked to every day, and sure enough, the
little path he remembered still led into the campground out of sight of
the main entrance. We snuck down the path and got our trip down
memory lane despite Ranger Danger.
Mark's dad had always rented a
big party barge during their stays
on the lake, and as we looked out
on all the happy boaters, the
many family slideshows we'd
been watching over the past few
weeks suddenly came to life.
Continuing north across the state,
we spent some time in Traverse
City. This charming area was
feeling the pinch from the bad
economy and we stayed in a
motel that had posted a sign
saying: "We're almost giving
rooms away," which they were.
As we drove along the shorefront
of this very pretty town, we heard
advertisements for a boat show.
Who could pass
that up? So off
we went to see what a Great Lakes
boat show might be like.
Bay Breeze Yacht Charters was the
center of attention. The business
had been recently acquired by Dave
and Kristin who had Michigan roots
but had just spent 14 years in the
Caribbean bareboat yacht charter
business. "Your brain turns to mush
after that long in the Caribbean,"
Dave said, so they had returned to
Michigan to shovel a little snow and
sharpen up a bit. They were offering free sails on the bay for the boat show and needed two
more people before they pushed off -- so we hopped on. What fun to be out sailing again!
As we hung around on the boat for a while afterwards, all the thoughts about our sailing
dreams that we'd been avoiding for the past month suddenly flooded back. Hmmm.
Early next morning we drove out along the Mission Peninsula on
beautiful winding roads past farms and orchards and vineyards.
Chateau Chantal is perched high up with views past their vineyard
to distant farmlands that roll down to the bay on the horizon.
At the end of the peninsula we walked around the Old Mission
Lighthouse and swished our fingers in the waters of the lake.
It was a glorious morning, and we must have said 50 times to each
other: "this would be a perfect place to ride a bike." Sure enough,
before long, we came across a group of cyclists out for a morning
ride along those wonderful sweeping roads. We followed them
down a tiny road that led out to the bay and watched the scenery
unfold next to us as we returned back towards Traverse City.
Every home had a boat dock across the street, and boats of all shapes
and sizes were ready to take passengers out for a ride on the lake.
Dave and Kristin of Bay Breeze had recommended we drive straight west
to the open shore of Lake Michigan and hike out to Pyramid Point in the
Sleeping Bear Dunes. The hike took us through some lush forest.
We noticed birch trees -- not our
familiar aspens -- along the trail.
At the end the trail opened up to a
commanding view of Lake
Michigan.
The water was clear and turquoise,
shading to a rich blue a little further out
capped off by some low islands in the
distance.
We drove along the rural roads that looped back towards Traverse City. Suddenly a colorful
palette of flowers appeared, and we stopped for a closer look.
It was an iris farm, and the
irises were in stunning bloom.
The farm had planted varieties
in every possible shade and color combination.
We roamed along the rows of flowers for an hour, stepping
gingerly between them. Looking around at the many hues, I felt
like I was in the middle of a Monet painting.
A second night in the motel where they were "almost giving rooms away," and
we were ready to go to further north in search of more scenic waterfront
villages along Northern Lake Michigan.